I just returned home from another amazing safari in Kenya with private clients. A big shout out to Donna Bourdon who co- led this private safari with me, the clients benefited greatly.
My clients met up with us in Nairobi. After a long flight (I booked Newark> Brussels> Nairobi thru United) with a few delays I ended up making it to Nairobi on schedule. The pilots really can make up some time in the air. I never transferred through Brussels before, the line for the transfer terminal was ridiculously long. Probably not going thru Brussels again…
Our first stop on this Mara/Amboseli/Samburu private safari was Amboseli. The clients wanted to visit Amboseli for the large tuskers. The first day we arrived, we saw Craig (the giant Tucker, age 53) he was alone, and our group had him all to ourselves. In addition to Craig, we saw 2 other big tuskers. Needless to say, Amboseli was a big hit with everyone.
Our next stop was Samburu. I love Samburu for the change of terrain from the Mara but also because it is less crowded and you have most of the sightings all to yourself. If you go when it’s their dry season you can have great opportunities for backlit dust shots. This was not their hot season and the weather was delightful.
Unfortunately we didn’t have great light for this shot. But the shot does show the coloration difference between the cubs and the adult female.
Within minutes of landing on the small airstrip in Samburu our guide spotted a leopard with a three-month-old cub; it turns out this leopard actually had 2 young cubs. It was amazing how our Maasai guide zeroed in on where the monkeys were alerting. He quickly spotted the leopard and then the cub. We had the sighting all to ourselves, but the light was bright and the vegetation in that area was a hindrance. Still, it was a great sighting.
Later the next day we found the leopard again, this time with both of her cubs. On our final night we spotted the leopard going up a tree to take a brief nap. While she got herself comfortable, she continually made a barking noise to alert other leopards that this was her territory. The sun was starting to set, the background was lovely, and her chosen branch/perch was beautiful. All the makings for a great photo. And then out of nowhere she stood up and leapt to a higher position. My client Glenn got the ultimate shot with all four paws in mid-air, and he didn’t clip the tail!
I loved seeing her legs straddle the branch.
During our time in Samburu, we also saw a lioness up a tree, she was sitting down when our guide spotted her. As we waited, hoping she would climb down or jump—she did a big cat stretch for us!!
We also saw each of the special 5 species (Beisa oryx; reticulated giraffe; Somali ostrich; Grevy's zebra and Gerenuk). I was especially happy with one of my abstract shots of three Grevy’s zebra.
Grevy’s zebra abstract, the one in the back is covered in dust.
Vulturine Guinea Fowl abstract.
Vulturine Guinea Fowl in-camera blur
One of my absolute favorite species to see in Samburu are the Vulturine Guinea Fowl. They make great subjects for abstracts and in-camera blurs. Their bright blue colors are striking. Plus, they are hysterical to watch as they flutter around.
Our upscale camp was loved by all. Each room had a private plunge pool that sparkled like a bag of diamonds. The food was fantastic with a wide variety of scrumptious dishes, including vegetarian offerings.
Our last and final destination was the Maasai Mara. Of course, the Mara does not disappoint. One of the group’s favorite sightings was a male lion, but not just any male lion. This one was so beautiful with a large, black, flowing mane glowing in the early morning light (opening image). I had to decrease the vibrancy a bit in post- processing to tone down the golden hues.
One morning before the sun came up, we spotted three Bat-eared fox; they were too skittish to sit and watch and/or photograph, but we did get a few fleeting shots of them. We also photographed a lot of birds during this trip. One of the clients enjoys shooting birds, so we made a point of stopping for as many as he wanted.
Yellow-necked Spurfowl in late afternoon sun doing a shake-off to rid itself of dust.
Here is another shot of the Yellow-necked Spurfowl, but here you can see how it gets its name.
Secretarybird
Grey crowned cranes
There was a controlled burn with lots of smoke in a section far away from us, but we could see the smoke against the sky. As the sun set, the smoke looked like a fire in the sky! We played around with silhouettes, and I got a few shots I loved.
On our last morning drive, before saying our goodbyes, we spotted a male cheetah sitting on a mound. The warm morning light added to the photos. It didn’t hurt that our cheetah was a poser. It was a wonderful send off for the group.
Overall, the trip was a great success. Everyone got a wide variety of photographs and memories. I’ll see Donna in Iceland as we start our Grimsey trip in a few days.
*For all the photos in this post I used a Sony a9II, Sony 200-600mm lens (my favorite Safari lens) and my Sony 12-24mm lens. All handheld with natural light. All processed using Lightroom and/or Photoshop. I have a lot more images to sort through, so I’ll post more later.
Vervet monkey showing his goods.
I love the grasses the cheetah is walking in.
